by Ben Hogwood
It is curious that minimalism – often a genre with a great deal of musical activity and kinetic energy – has provided some of the most ambient music in the modern canon. A prime example is the Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ of Steve Reich, whose music shimmers in the warm sun:
Published post no.2,999 – Saturday 29 August 2026
by Ben Hogwood
In something of a rarity for the Arcana pages, I’m very pleased to say I have made a guest appearance on Naomi Belshaw‘s very excellent Whisky High Notes podcast. The idea is to pick four meaningful pieces of classical music and present them to Naomi, who thoughtfully and creatively pairs each with a whisky.
My appearance is on episode four, which you can watch below:
I would strongly encourage you to watch the rest of the series, whose contributors so far include artistic director of King’s Place Sam McShane, viola player Dan Shalliday and composer Dobrinka Tabakova. Click here to access the Whisky High Notes homepage
Published post no.2,930 – Saturday 27 June 2026
Stravinsky Symphony in Three Movements (1942-5)
Reich Jacob’s Ladder (2023) [BBC co-commission: UK premiere]
Tippett The Midsummer Marriage – Ritual Dances (1946-52)
Elgar Variations on an Original Theme ‘Enigma’ Op.36 (1898-9)
Synergy Vocals [Tara Bungard (soprano), Micaela Haslam (soprano/director), Will Wright, Ben Alden (tenors)], BBC Symphony Orchestra / Martyn Brabbins
Royal Albert Hall, London
Friday 30 August 2024
reviewed by Richard Whitehouse Photos (c) Andy Paradise
What should have been the 133rd concert that Sir Andrew Davis conducted at the Proms became a commemorative event after his untimely death in April but, with Martyn Brabbins presiding over a thoughtfully amended programme, the outcome could not have been more appropriate.
Proceeding unaltered, the first half began with Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements in a performance redolent of Otto Klemperer in its deliberation if without that conductor’s heft – not least an opening movement whose rhythmic trenchancy felt a little dogged as it unfolded. Best was the Andante – its deadpan humour complemented by the beatific poise at its centre, then a transition of hushed expectancy to launch the finale. Here the closing build-up might have been more visceral, but the conclusiveness of that final chord could hardly be doubted.
Davis (above) was hardly known as proponent of Minimalism in general or Steve Reich in particular, thus his scheduling this first UK performance of the latter’s Jacob’s Ladder could be taken as significant. Playing just under 20 minutes, this is artfully structured as four short ‘expository’ sections followed by four longer ‘developmental’ ones. The former pitted its four vocalists – a telling number in this context of eight strings, six woodwind, two vibraphones and one piano – against an instrumental ensemble that took precedence in those latter sections; the final one brings them together in new-found accord. Dealing with scalic patterns in all their conceptual and metaphorical implications, the musical content typifies late Reich in ruminative elegance or subdued intensity which, if it offers no revelations, is yet satisfying in its stylistic deftness.
Schumann’s Second Symphony had been planned for a second half as now commenced with the Ritual Dances from Tippett’s The Midsummer Marriage – an opera, and composer, close to Davis’ heart. Unfailingly cohesive to the degree its series of elemental and seasonal dances interwove with their respective ‘transformations’ and ‘preparations’, this account was equally notable for its textural clarity even in those most contrapuntally intricate passages, along with a colouristic sense sustained up to the climactic return of its initial music for a magical envoi.
When Brabbins last conducted Elgar’s ‘Enigma’ Variations at the Proms, it was the final item in a 60th-birthday tribute that began with Pictured Within – a latter-day equivalent involving 14 different composers. Tonight’s account gave eloquent insight into what has become almost too familiar a work, evident from the outset in a ‘Theme’ of melting pathos. Highlights from those that followed included the soulfulness of ‘C.A.E.’, pensiveness of ‘R.P.A.’ or elegance of ‘Ysobel’ with its lilting viola from Sebastian Krunnies. ‘Nimrod’ started imperceptibly but built towards a nobly wrought apex, with the affectionate portrayed ‘Dorabella’ or searching evocation of ‘***(Romanza)’ no less affecting. The ‘E.D.U.’ finale moved confidently to an organ-clad peroration exuding what Elgar elsewhere termed a ‘‘massive hope for the future’’.
Just before this performance, Brabbins spoke for a capacity house in paying tribute to Davis with his dedication to music-making in the UK and beyond; something Sir Andrew brought to every one of his 132 appearances at the Proms, across 54 years of dedication to his cause.
You can get details about this year’s season at the BBC Proms website – and you can click on the names to read more about the BBC Symphony Orchestra, their conductor Martyn Brabbins, and an obituary of Sir Andrew Davis himself
Published post no.2,287 – Sunday 1 September 2024
by Ben Hogwood
This week the Dutch conductor Edo de Waart announced his retirement, after six decades at the top of his game. On inspection of his discography, de Waart has conducted a number of important recordings – either in San Francisco, Minnesota or the Netherlands – and a selection of these are included in the playlist below, which begins with a classic recording of Steve Reich‘s Variations for winds, strings and keyboards and ends with the landmark Harmonium, by John Adams:
Published post no.2,147 – Saturday 13 April 2024
Ed Driver Fruits Of Their Laboue (world premiere)
Ed Pelham (clarinet), Tabitha Bolter (horn), Aidan Campbell (bassoon), Stone Tung (trumpet), Eddie Curtis (bass trombone), Michal Oren (conductor)
Schoenfield Café Music (1987)
Rubie Besin (violin), Layla Ballard (cello), Alexander Doronin (piano)
Reich Different Trains (1988)
Jordan Brooks, Sara Belic (violins), Scott Storey (viola), Sam Hwang (cello)
Performance Hall, Royal College of Music
Wednesday 15 March 2023, 6pm
by Ben Hogwood
If you live in or around London, it is well worth reminding you that one of the best ways in which to experience classical music is to visit one of the enterprising colleges and academies in the city. They are packed with interesting recitals, with several lunchtime or early evening concerts per week, with interesting programmes and enthusiastic students ready to give them. The two most obvious examples are the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music, though more can be sought and found.
It was the Royal College of Music in which your reviewer spent an early evening hour. Currently excelling (on the strength of reviews) in a Respighi – Ravel double bill of opera, which sadly this reviewer did not have the time to experience, the college is enjoying a rich vein of musical form. This is due to a strikingly successful renovation of their ground floor space, and a very fine Performance Hall, suited for chamber-sized concerts such as this one. Here we had the chance to appraise the talent within the college, both at composer and performer levels.
The first piece was a world premiere, Ed Driver’s quintet Fruits Of Their Labour. Born in 2000, Driver is a composer of some repute, with recent accolades from the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group and a new piece for the Hermes Experiment just two of his recent notable attributes. Fruits of Their Labour proved an attractive curtain raiser for this concert, Driver enjoying the unusual quintet combination of clarinet, horn, bassoon, trumpet and bass trombone.
Based on a Czech folk song, the piece has a springlike feel as it alternates between dynamism and relative stillness, making the most of the colourful textures available. The energetic sections were contagious, but the slower passages made an arguably greater impact, their chorale-like figures filling the room.
In the latter stage Driver instructed that trumpet and bass trombone should pour water into their instruments, resulting in a sound between a gargle and something of a plumbing malfunction. While effective, the combination with the other instruments was a little superfluous, and when the music returned to its chorale figure the warmer colours were more attractive. On this evidence Driver is a composer of imagination and flair, one to keep in our sights. He received an excellent premiere performance, too, brilliantly played and conducted with authority by Michal Oren.
Next up was a piano trio with a difference. Paul Schoenfield wrote Café Music for the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra in 1987, looking to bridge the gap between the music you might hear at Murray’s steakhouse in Minneapolis and that heard at the Minnesota ensemble’s home. He achieves his aim with music of great virtuosity and considerable humour, with a great number of enjoyable and quirky themes crammed into a three-movement, 15-minute piece. Rubie Besin, Layla Ballard and Alexander Doronin played these with considerable brio, the pianist in particular impressing with his combination of technical skill and rhythmic drive. The technical demands on the players meant there was not always room to bring the humourous sleights through at their fullest, but Besin and Ballard ensured the music had a smile on its face and a spring to its rhythms, their attractive tones bringing the melodies across with room to spare. The performance that had many flourishes, while allowing time for occasional reflection.
The main work of the evening, Steve Reich’s Different Trains, has become established as a lynchpin of the string quartet repertoire, a reflection of its strength and originality. Inspired by childhood journeys to visit his parents during the Second World War, the piece uses a collection of recordings of trains before, during and after the war – spliced together with interviews from a retired porter, Reich’s governess and two survivors of the Holocaust. Their speech patterns are taken up by the stringed instruments in performance.
This performance had a few balance issues, due to the complexity of balancing loud train noises with live strings in a small performance space, and as a result the words themselves were difficult to hear at times. Yet the quartet gave a fine performance, viola player Scott Storey and cellist Sam Hwang shaping the speech melodies with expression and guile. Violinists Jordan Brooks and Sara Belic added colourful and characterful phrases themselves, bringing rich treble to the train whistles and to some of the motifs generated by the interviews.
Different Trains lasts nearly half an hour, but it says much for the musical content that it passes in the blink of an eye. The quartet here should be congratulated for their musicality and concentration, bringing Reich’s music to energetic and often poignant life.
A fine concert, then – and a reminder to make the most of all this wonderful music if it’s on your doorstep!
For information on concerts at two of London’s central music education hubs, click on the names for concerts at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Academy of Music. Meanwhile you can listen to the premiere recording of Different Trains below
Arcana.fm 